Agustín Esteve was a portraitist and court painter to the Spanish Crown, best known for his work that is related to that of Francisco Goya, including numerous copies of portraits by the great master. Esteve was born in Valencia, in the province of Saragossa on the 12 May 1753 possibly to Valencian sculptor also named Agustín Esteve. He spent his childhood in Valencia and studied at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos. In 1772 he won a first prize in the third class in the Painting department for a drawing at Madrid's Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. In 1778, Esteve failed to win the first prize at the Academia de San Fernando for painting. Like Goya, Esteve came up through the ranks when the neoclassicism of Anton Raphael Mengs was still dominant in Madrid. However, in the 1790s and perhaps the 1780s, Esteve came under Goya's influence, as well. On June 14, 1800, the King named Esteve "Painter to the Court."